A man walks into a jewelry store intent on buying a ring. He is served by a consultant who helps him select an elegant band in within his price range. The man pays the correct amount for the ring, thanks the consultant for their good service, and leaves the shop. Halfway down the street, the man suddenly stops. He then races into the store and savagely assaults the consultant. Why?

Did something happen after he left the store (before he stopped)? Did he see something? hear something? Did someone say something? do something? Did something happen to the ring? Did something happen in the store? Did he mistakenly believe that the consultant had wronged him? was this a reasonable mistake? or a stupid one?

Did something happen after he left the store (before he stopped)? yesDid he see something? yes hear something? noDid someone say something? do something? no to bothDid something happen to the ring? noDid something happen in the store? noDid he mistakenly believe that the consultant had wronged him? no was this a reasonable mistake? or a stupid one? n/a

was what he saw: a person? a sign? an ad? someone else wearing the exact same ring? (Had the consultant asssured him that it was unique and a one-of-a-kind design?

Did he beat the consultant because of something that he realized about the ring? something that he realized about the way the consultant had treated him?

Would another person reasonably return to the store and confront the consultant under the same circumstances? attack the consultant? return to the store and complain about the consultant to the owner/manager? shrug and keep walking? laugh?

was what he saw: a person? noa sign? noan ad? nosomeone else wearing the exact same ring? (Had the consultant asssured him that it was unique and a one-of-a-kind design? no to both

Did he beat the consultant because of something that he realized about the ring? something that he realized about the way the consultant had treated him? no to both

Would another person reasonably return to the store and confront the consultant under the same circumstances? no attack the consultant? no return to the store and complain about the consultant to the owner/manager? no shrug and keep walking? no laugh? YES

Oooo-kay. So he's got a bad temper, and no sense of humor. Now you're getting it

What he saw: a vehicle? a person? an item? <-- This 'un

something on the sidewalk? noon the street? Going by the broadest possible definition of 'on the street', yeson a building? noin a building? (say, in a shop window?) noon a vehicle? noin a vehicle? noon a pushcart? noon a person? yeson a newspaper or magazine? no

On a person, OK. Was it a piece of clothing? a coat? pants? skirt? blouse/shirt? vest? tie? jacket? a hat? a piece of jewelry? a t-shirt? shoes? a sandwich board? an accessory (e.g. scarf, purse, briefcase, belt?) a piece of electronic stuff (e.g. an iPod, a walkman, cellphone, pager, headphones, a hearing aid?) a costume other than street clothes?

Did it have a word? or words? on it? a logo?

Was it the item itself that made him mad at the consultant? Would he have assaulted someone else if he hadn't just been at the jewelers?

Or did seeing the item make him believe something about the consultant? about the consultant's ethics? honesty? did he think that the consultant had insulted him? cheated him?

On a person, OK. Was it a piece of clothing? noa coat? pants? skirt? blouse/shirt? vest? tie? jacket? a hat? a piece of jewelry? a t-shirt? shoes? Not applicablea sandwich board? noan accessory (e.g. scarf, purse, briefcase, belt?) a piece of electronic stuff (e.g. an iPod, a walkman, cellphone, pager, headphones, a hearing aid?) a costume other than street clothes? no to all

Did it have a word? or words? <-- this 'un on it? a logo?

Was it the item itself that made him mad at the consultant? yes Would he have assaulted someone else if he hadn't just been at the jewelers? no

Or did seeing the item make him believe something about the consultant? YESabout the consultant's ethics? honesty? no to eitherdid he think that the consultant had insulted him? cheated him? no to both

Something with words on it, but not clothing. Hmmm. Ah, but this is the world of lateral puzzles, where things other than clothing have words on them and nothing is the way it see-eems...

shoes aren't applicable -- was the person he saw barefoot? if so, is that relevant? a tattoo? no to either

something attached to? or part of? the person? or something that they were carrying? <--yes dragging? leading? pushing? handing out?

a book? flyers? a cup? or bag? from a restaurant? a shopping bag? a package? a bottle? or can? cigarettes? or a cigarette lighter? or cigarette case? some other tobacco product? a food item? no to all of these

What he believed about the consultant: did it concern his intentions while helping the man? his personal beliefs? yesishhis ethnicity? his religion? no to others

If the man had been helped by a different consultant, would he have jumped to the same conclusion about that consultant upon seeing the item? NO!

Is the man stupid as well as short-tempered and humorless? YES

By Ed Mason (Logician) on Saturday, April 02, 2005 - 01:19 pm:

Is the man racist? no... against the consultant's religion/race/colour/nationality? no So that where others would laugh, he becomes angry? yes

A flag? a banner? a musical instrument? a placard? a painting? print? photo? framed poster? a suitcase? duffle? backpack? rucksack?

Dit the thing only have words on it? Were there pictures (or a picture?) as well? Were there numbers? (or a number?) as well? Were there any other design elements (curliques? a border? squigggles of some sort? a geometric pattern? an abstract pattern?)

Were the words a label? a slogan? a company name? a person's name? Did the words form a full sentence?

Was it the words alone that connected the thing to the consultant in the man's mind? or would the thing have done so even if it didn't have the words? would the same words on some? any? other thing have had the same results?

A flag? a banner? a musical instrument? a placard? a painting? print? photo? framed poster? a suitcase? duffle? backpack? rucksack? no to all of these

Dit the thing only have words on it? no Were there pictures (or a picture?) as well? no Were there numbers? (or a number?) as well? Were there any other design elements (curliques? a border? squigggles of some sort? a geometric pattern? an abstract pattern?) no to these

Were the words a label? a slogan? a company name? a person's name? <-- this one Did the words form a full sentence? yes

Was it the words alone that connected the thing to the consultant in the man's mind? yes or would the thing have done so even if it didn't have the words? no would the same words on some? any? other thing have had the same results? given the character of the man in question, most likely yes

By John Morahan (Wunderland) on Saturday, April 02, 2005 - 06:14 pm:

Was the man prejudiced? yes against people like the consultant? yes because of gender? sexuality? <-- this one politics?

Did the consultant share her name with the man? with someone he knew? neither Was it her first name that is relevant? yes Did he find her name offensive? YOPE Was her name mis-spelled on the receipt? no

Did the receipt have a message on it like:- "You were served by ..... today"? or "...... served you today"? YES - but the wording is relevantly differentDoes the jewellery store have a relevant name? no

Is her name "Gay" yes or something similar? so the receipt said "Your server today was Gay"? YES! Close enough for a

********** SPOILER **********

The man was a violent homophobic who was none too bright. Halfway down the street, he looked at his receipt, which said 'Your consultant was Gay' referring of course to the consultant's name. However, the man took that to be an indication of the consultant's sexual preference and could not suppress his violent urges

Originally, this puzzle was going to be something along the lines of 'A man is walking down a street looking at a receipt. Suddenly, he falls down laughing'. I decided, however, that as this is a lateral puzzle, it should be as violent and obscure as possible.

Thank you for playing.

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